Thoughts at the End of a Great Day...

Almost every Sunday, I leave church thinking some version of, "Wow...that was a great day!"  But today was exceptional.  If you are reading this and you didn't get to come to PCC today, you missed one of the most memorable hours our church has ever had.  The story of the blind man in John 9 took on new meaning for me and we were all reminded that the point of Jesus' coming was not to answer every one of our questions, but to heal us of our spiritual problem.  The formerly blind man's statement is profound, "I don't know [the answer to all of your questions]. But I know this:  I was blind and now I see."  

Every Christ follower should be able to make such a claim.  

Jesus put a part of himself on us...in us...and we were washed of our past, healed of our wounds, and made into a new person!  

As a church leader and as the founding pastor of this experiment we call PCC, I was profoundly moved today as one person after another walked across the stage to bear witness to their own encounter with Jesus.  Some met him before coming to our church, but many encountered Him for the first time because of what we do.  It's easy to forget that we are making a difference.  Days like today remind us all that what we do matters.  It really matters.

I'd like to give you just a little glimpse at something that I worried about today.  I had consciously decided not to look at the cards in the time before the first service, while they were being written.  I wanted to experience that moment fresh for the first time when it happened - in the moment.  

But I was worried that it would no longer be fresh in the second service and that I wouldn't be moved again.  After all, I had already experienced it just 90 minutes before.

What I realized is that I never get tired of knowing that lives are being changed because God is moving among us and through our church.  If anything, I was even more affected in the second service than I was in the first.  Even as I write these words, I see the images of those folks in my mind...and it moves me to tears again.

Why were we blessed with the privilege to be a part of such a powerful movement of God?  I don't know.  But this one thing I do know:  We encountered the person of Jesus Christ...and we will never be the same again. 

Am I Being Effective?

In addition to the evaluatory questions about the church,  I ask a few personally reflective questions:

• Am I personally growing?
• Is the work I'm doing still fun?
• Do I get angry quickly, have a short fuse, feel frustrated and grumpy?
  
• Am I the right person to take PCC to the next place?
  

I don't throw these questions out there with any manipulative intent.  I know that the last one will cause some folks to want to quickly respond and affirm me.  I'm grateful for the love that so many in our community have shown me over the years and for those who have my back and come to my side when I need help.  You mean more to me than you will ever know.

Still, the questions are good.  And if I ever get to the place where I refuse to consider them, I'm in trouble...and our church is in trouble.  For the record, I think I'm supposed to be here.  And my passionate plea with God is that he allows me to stay here for the rest of my ministry.  I want to (and intend to) retire from PCC.  

For me personally, seasons ebb and flow - sometimes I am able to work less...other times more.  Right now, I'm working a lot.  A whole lot.  I've got to figure out how to dial it back a little.  It's not healthy.  Fortunately, I am seeing the signs way ahead of when I normally do.  Normally I wait too long and have to react.  For whatever reason, I'm being really proactive right now.  

The defining question is:  What am I doing today that I should NOT be doing?  Sometimes this leads to unimportant tasks on my list.  But more often than not, it means that there are others who would be more effective at some of the things I'm doing.  Letting those things go would be a double benefit to the church:  1) They'd be done in a more excellent way, and 2) I'd be able to do what I am best at to the best of my ability.

So, hopefully I'll make some smart choices in the coming days.  I hope I've got the courage to do that.

How Effective Are We?

I am constantly asking the question:  How effective are we?  To answer that question, I ask a few more:

• Are we doing what we set out to do?  
• Are we doing it to the best of our ability?  
• Are we trusting God fully for what He wants to do?  
• Are we being faithful to our calling? 
• Can we do it better than we're doing it now?  
  

I'm really in evaluation mode right now.  I do think we can do what we do better and more effectively.  But I also think that we are being faithful and we are seeing incredible results.  The last two 101 classes I've led have been amazing.  Combined, there were about 37 people between the 2 classes, 22 of whom weren't going to church anywhere when they came to PCC.  The stories they tell about what PCC has meant in their lives leaves me speechless and in awe that God could use us in such a profound way.

What we do matters...and as I evaluate our effectiveness, I will do so with the awareness that we ARE making a difference.

Last Sunday, I referred in my message to a conference that some of us went to in South Carolina.  It was paid for by our friends and partners at the Virginia Baptist Mission Board.  It was a one day event, so I frankly didn't have high expectations...but I was absolutely blown away.  It was the most potent single church conference event I've ever attended.  

The church who hosted it is New Spring Community Church, a new church plant in Anderson S.C. that has experienced phenomenal growth.  They see thousands of people every weekend, have launched multiple campuses, and are extremely innovative.  They are passionate about reaching unchurched people.

Their signature really is their pastor, Perry Noble.  If I had known how effective he would be, I would have taken 300 people with me.  And while you can't get the full impact of our experience - complete with the music - you can at least hear what he said.  

I don't do this often, but I promise you it's worth some of your time.  I am asking you, if you are a part of PCC, to go to this address and listen to the 2 sessions Perry gave (each session is about 40 minutes).  I'd be glad to hear your feedback.

http://tonymorganlive.com/2009/03/16/replay-of-unleash-09-main-sessions/

What Does it Mean to be a Multi-Sensory Learner?

A few months ago, I was at a conference in Washington D.C.  A few of us from the staff went, joining about a thousand other people for this event.  And at one point, Beth, Susan and I were walking around and I made this observation, out loud: 

"I think we are the oldest people here!"

And I wasn't kidding.  Every church leader in that room was in their 20's, it seemed.  These were pastors and worship leaders, student pastors and children's pastors.  They were staff and leadership from churches all over the region...and they were all young....and I felt pretty old.

It wasn't a 'young leaders' conference.  It's not like we missed the memo or the fine print and then realized that we shouldn't have been there.  But somewhere along the way, the way the promotional material was done, the lineup of the speakers, the naming of the worship band, even the location - all of this must have communicated 'cool'  'hip'  'groovy'  'out of sight'  (see, even my attempt at superlatives dates me!)

As the speakers made their presentations, it was clear to me that I could learn a lot about the way younger folks learn by observing the audience and the teaching styles.  And something I noticed blew me away:

Almost always, there were multiple things happening at the same time.

One time, during the entire time when the speaker was talking (and he was an excellent communicator), there was - at the same time - a guy drawing on a white board a few feet to the speakers right.  The artist never said a word; never looked at the audience; never reacted to the speaker's jokes or anything else.  He just...drew.  

It drove me nuts.  I thought, "that is distracting and downright rude."

During the music, there were multiple things happening at the same time.  Moving backgrounds behind the words, moving words, the screens all had different things playing on them, there was over the top activity on the stage - it was like somebody spiked the coffee with steroids and the creative team was going nuts!

Even the way the room was set up felt like total chaos - it was so overstimulating for me - and I'm a high energy person!

But then I remembered, it's not about me. (have you ever heard anyone say that before?)

I grew up, like many of you, a mono-sensory learner. (or maybe the word is uni-sensory...I don't really know).  I learned in one 'mode' at a time, using basically one of my 5 senses at a time.  When the teacher was talking, we were to focus on the teacher.  Period.  No distractions.  When we were listening to music, we were focused on the music.  When we were doing art, we were focused on our painting.  

And we learned that it is a breach of social etiquette to not give someone your complete attention when they are talking to you...so doing multiple things at once sends a message that you don't really want to hear what they are saying.

The world has changed!  People under 35 grew up or at least grew into adulthood with the regular practice and social acceptance of using multiple senses simultaneously.

• Through the IM phenomenon, they learned to have multiple conversations at the same time, and not get mixed up about who you are talking to.

• They can text message like I type.  My daughter can text on her phone without looking and as fast as I can type.  So, she can talk to me and text on her phone at the same time - and she can keep both conversations straight in her head.  Further, young people today can have multiple Facebook conversations, be texting with 4 friends, watch TV, study their schoolwork, and have a coherent conversation with you all at the same time!  I don't have to understand how it works, but I can't deny it.

• People under 35 have been taught that effective learning environments stimulate multiple senses simultaneously.  The artist drove me crazy that day, but everyone else in the room really got it.  They learned through it.  A speaker speaking with no visual accents, and no other stimuli is generally boring to a young person, even if the speaker is a gifted communicator.

So, what does this all mean for the church?

The church must create multi-sensory learning environments in order to engage with 18-35 year-olds.  Those of us who are older must accept and live in this new reality so that we can reach these folks, or we risk becoming irrelevant.  I don't want to say what other churches have said.  You know, something like, "they should learn to be respectful" or "they should adapt to our way of doing church".  Attitudes like these are why the church in America is dying.  They are selfish and are blatant refusals to understand another generation's perspective.  And we won't be adopting these statements, I promise you.

So, one of the changes you will increasingly see is a move over the next few months to multi-sensory Sunday morning experiences.  We'll use technology, space, talent, and all of our creativity.  But we will also invite people who are younger to help us craft services so that we can most effectively communicate with that generation.  (we've already done this, by the way).

It will be fun...and is one part of the next phase of our adventure.

Why PCC Is Ready for Change...

We're about to undergo some of the most dramatic change in our church's  six and a half year history.  The 'why' is always about our mission.  If we can do what we do better and more effectively reach people who are far from God and/or outside of other churches, we will do it.   And we can do it even better than we have been.

The data and facts about unchurched people are well documented and the evidence is growing.  Our church, like other churches who have gone before us, is capable of getting stuck.  We were different when we started (we are still different today),  but we must always be in a constant state of adaptation to the needs of unchurched people around us, or we risk becoming irrelevant.   

Here are some facts: 

(when I refer to 'the church', I mean the church at large, not our church)

 

• Only 10% of America's churches are large, but over 50% of churchgoers attend those churches.1

• The church is losing a disproportionate share of young people.  While the church is losing ground on many fronts, it's losing 18-35 year olds at a rapid pace.

• The unchurhed population is growing, with some studies suggesting that as many as 70% of Americans do not ever go to church.  Even where we live, the number of churchgoers is 50% at best.

• Most growing churches are doing so through innovation, replication, and variation, and evaluation

• Today’s 18-35 year old is a multi-sensory learner.

• Growing churches usually have a clearly articulated mission/vision.  They are focused on it and are fanatically passionate about it.  Therefore, churches which are reaching people understand what few things they do and say ‘NO’ to most everything else – even great ideas – that don’t fit their mission.

• Churches that are reaching unchurched people understand the cultural value of excellence and the engagement value of entertainment.

I’m going to spend a few days writing about the reasons for continued change at PCC before I start sharing how we are going to change and what we can expect to see from that change.

Here’s what you can do:  Forget what we were like 5 years ago.  Forget what used to work.  Forget that you know anything.  The world is changing and institutions become dated.  But movements strive ahead. 

Powhatan Community Church is a Movement, not an institution.

1) Duin, Julia.  Quitting Church.  Baker Books, 2008

Next Series: Move!

Jesus never sat still for long.  He was always going...always doing...always on the Move.  So why is it that we usually talk about what Jesus said and spend so little energy looking at what he did?  

One reason is because Words Matter.  So, Jesus' words happen to be really important.

But his actions are equally important.

So, leading up to Easter, we are going to look every week at some of the actions of Jesus.  We'll be staying in the book of John for this series and encouraging everyone to read John along the way, as a community, finishing it by Easter.  

We've never done a series like this, and I'm really excited about it!!  To think about Jesus, on the Move, and to study the things he did.  When I researched this, it blew me away when I saw the things he quietly did, with little or no comment.  I can't wait to share with you each week what I saw...and Beth and her team have some really cool creative elements that will help us encounter God and engage with the subject.  

I promise that the implications of this series will meet you where you are and have an impact on your life!

I hope you will make an effort to be there each week.  It's going to be awesome!